Deadly Evasions
by Asj Johnson
Summary: Valerie and Phantom are handcuffed to be hunted by Skulktech on a familiar island. However, when waking up, it's not Dan who is there with Valerie—but instead Danny.
1. Return to the Island

I had this idea two days ago. Thought it'd somewhat fit with Halloween. Hope you like it. ...Not sure how often I'll update it yet, though, since I still have my other fic. (Oh, also, it's mostly based on the DP episodes "The Ultimate Enemy" and "Life Lessons", and perhaps _very _vaguely related to the short story "The Most Dangerous Game"—and I don't own anything.)

* * *

Chapter One: Return to the Island

Skulker hadn't even needed to ask Technus to increase the magnification of the suit's binoculars. The two of them were beginning to work together easier—to anticipate each other's needs.

Red text displayed on one side of the lenses, telling the estimated energy of the two far off combatants, as well as scan results listing known disabled weapons and abilities. Skulker mostly ignored the constant stream of information. Instead, he watched as Phantom ripped an attached gun from the huntress's suit, the ragged edges sparking.

Phantom dodged a powerful kick and grabbed the girl's neck, a grin on his face.

The girl was weakening. The stats showed her oxygen levels dipping dangerously. The lenses automatically zoomed in on the movement of a slowly rising hand—she pushed a button on her belt and another weapon appeared.

A flashing alert announced the recording of the new weapon for their records.

The gun released a blast of sharp energy at point-blank range, and Phantom was thrust back, hitting the ground. The girl fell to the opposite side.

Skulker checked over the data. It showed them both low on energy, and most of the huntress's known weapons offline. "What luck," he said, amused. "Our enemies have almost finished each other."

"Not quite," Technus returned. "However, today's battle could be advantageous. It's unusual for _both _of them to be this weakened."

"Indeed," he said with a nod, then tilted his head in thought. "What do you think? Should we extend them an invitation?"

Technus laughed. "I _have _been wanting to test the island's upgrades."

Skulker grinned. "And if they work, it will be the end of two thorns in our sides." He grew thoughtful. "...Phantom would make a rather nice pelt. The prize of my collection. We will need a display case, one that will keep it preserved. And perhaps a security system."

* * *

Phantom was exhausted. His battle with Valerie had been closer than usual.

"New weapon, huh?" he said breathlessly. Some kind of electricity-based weapon that seemed to shock the energy right out of him.

However—and he grinned at the thought—he had almost killed her this time. He'd felt her giving in to unconsciousness just as she activated her new toy. He still won. He was the one still awake. He could rest a few minutes and bask in his victory, before finishing her.

His smile disappeared with the uncomfortable sensation of mist pushing through his nose. His red eyes darted around, looking for the new presence.

Why did it have to be _now_? He wasn't yet recovered. However, it wouldn't do to appear weak. He pushed himself to his feet and straightened his shoulders. Standing made him slightly dizzy, and he furrowed his eyebrows, surprised her toy had affected him to that extent. He made himself smile even as he narrowed his eyes. "Come out, come out wherever you are." He lit a fist with green energy, grin widening. "It's rude to scavenge for remains at another's battle."

"Oh, but that's how we get our best technology," came the familiar sound of Technus' voice.

Phantom shot a ghost ray in that direction.

"Activate the Phantom Palm Pummeler, _now_," Skulker's voice ordered.

"I was just getting around to it!" Technus said.

Phantom relaxed knowing he was in the presence of a familiar enemy, and decided to taunt the still invisible cyborg. He allowed an incredulous amusement to enter his voice. "When will you learn? That weapon has no effect on me."

"Even when you're already weakened?" Skulker asked. Skulktech appeared before Phantom, palm raised.

Phantom only had time to open his mouth in surprise, bright blue light knocking him off his feet. He groaned as he hit the ground for the second time in the last five minutes.

The blue beam continued to push against him. He squinted through the light, glaring at the silhouetted form of Skulktech. Phantom gathered his energy into one hand and pushed against the beam, growling in effort. It broke through, shattering the beam. Phantom leapt to his feet and flashed toward the cyborg.

Skulktech released several metal arms from his back. Phantom dodged one metal claw, but a second grabbed his arm, followed by another, and then a third arm coiled around him like a giant snake. He struggled in the grip.

"Perhaps the Palm Pummeler still doesn't work," Technus mused, "but the energy you used up breaking through it made you easier to capture."

Phantom glared at the cyborg, but said calmly, "You know you can't end me. The moment you loosen your hold, I will shred your suit and the two of you within it."

Both faces gulped in unease, but the emotion passed quickly. Skulktech reached into a compartment in his suit and pulled out a pair of glowing handcuffs.

Phantom was surprised that, rather than approach him, the cyborg knelt and put one cuff on the unconscious Valerie. Skulktech then touched the Red Huntress's utility belt, and the machinery sizzled, sparking and releasing smoke. The girl moaned. Skulktech pulled her toward Phantom, dragging her body across the ground.

Phantom sneered as Skulktech reached for his own wrist, which was pinned to his side by the metal tentacles circling his arms. "You _repeating _yourself, now?" he asked. He concentrated on building energy in his hand, but it was barely enough to sting Skulktech as the cuff locked in place.

"I prefer to call it _Round Two_." Skulker returned.

"You're mistaken if you believe me the same person you had hunted before."

The Phantom of back then was pathetic, plagued by human emotions. His current self did not have such weaknesses.

Skulker studied him. "It doesn't matter—your hide is much more valuable now, as is that of the huntress." Skulktech's boosters activated, lifting all of them into the air. "You would be mistaken to believe the _island_ is the same, either."

"Indeed," Technus added, "with _my technology_, the island has been transformed into a literal _deathtrap_."

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "So you're letting the _island _do your work for you? What happened to being a _mighty hunter_?"

Skulker glared at him. "You're not the only one whose methods have changed. Whether by my own hands or not, I _will _obtain your pelt."

It was at that moment that Valerie groaned again and raised her head. "Ugh... What—?" Her eyes widened and she flailed about in the air, her movements tugging on Phantom's attached arm: the only thing keeping her from falling to the ground currently racing by beneath them.

"Refrain from doing that," Phantom growled at her, "Or your death will be _slower _once I'm alone with you." He wasn't going to say 'more painful'—he would make it painful either way.

"What? We're _handcuffed together_?"

The situation was almost familiar: the Valerie of ten years ago had also gone into a fit on first waking up. And also did her best to dislocate his shoulder.

"_Skulktech_!" Valerie hissed. She pushed a button on her belt, and it sparked.

Phantom's eyes widened, clenching his teeth as the shock traveled through the handcuffs. He and Valerie both twitched, though the metal arms around Phantom remained firm, perhaps somehow insulated. "Do not do that!"

"What, you think I _wanted_ to shock myself?" she shot back. She continued to herself, "He must have shorted out my tech. Does _anything _work?" Her finger reached for another button.

"Do not _dare_ touch that again!" Phantom snarled at her.

* * *

It was close to half an hour before the two of them were set down on the island. The moment the ghost—the metal one, that is—retracted his extra arms, Phantom lunged, dragging Valerie through the air with him. She cried out at the sudden pain in her arm. Skulktech disappeared, however, going invisible and probably fleeing to somewhere safe. Phantom just stood there glaring at thin air after that.

Valerie frowned and rubbed her shoulder joint. It was sore after all the abuse. She turned toward the direction they'd arrived from. "The coast is this way. It shouldn't take too long if we can fly."

"I'm not _going_ to the coast."

Valerie turned to face the dark voice and saw an equally dark expression.

"I'm going to find Skulktech and destroy him."

Valerie lifted her hands into the air—or at least the one Phantom didn't weigh down. "Are you _crazy_? Don't you remember _last time _this happened? There's going to be traps _everywhere_. I'm sure I'll find something elsewhere that can break this lock. I'm _leaving_." She started forward, but a tug on her wrist yanked her back.

"Oh, but you're not going _anywhere_, Valerie," Phantom almost purred. "Don't you remember our fight? I was the victor, and now I'll be taking my spoils."

Phantom stepped toward her, and she instinctively backed up, keeping him at arm's reach. What did that mean; what was he planning? A new kind of fear wrapped around her.

"You can't get away from me, Valerie. I'll finish killing you here and now—taking much pleasure in your pain—and then go after Skulktech."

At least he was still only talking about killing. Funny the things she found relief in nowadays. "Isn't there something you're forgetting, Phantom? If you kill me, you'll be lugging dead weight all around the island."

He frowned for a moment, but then his smile returned. "Not if I cut you in pieces. All that's really needed is to snap off your hand—but that wouldn't be as much fun."

"You're _sick_." She didn't know why it still surprised her. He _was_ a ghost, after all, and she hadn't met a sane ghost yet.

He laughed. "Your words mean nothing to me. How many times do I need to tell you? I don't feeling _anything_ for others. I don't have any humanity left in me."

What should she do now? She needed to survive this. And, with her suit fried, she also needed Phantom's powers to get off the island. What would convince him of the same? "You need me to get off this island, Phantom. I know Skulktech must've done something to you, as well."

"I told you—I don't _want_ off this island. And..." he paused, raising one hand. A green flame formed in his palm. "Skulktech can't hope to suppress my powers. Even now, they're already returning."

"What if he programmed something into these handcuffs?" she asked, drawing at straws. "What if there's some kind of kill switch the moment one of us dies? What if getting me out of the handcuffs hurts you as well?"

Phantom looked unamused. "I'm willing to take that risk."

"But..." She took another step back to maintain space between them, trying to think of something else she could say. This wasn't good. She was powerless without her suit, no use to Phantom; while Phantom had all the answers to her problems. His portal ability might be able to get them off the island without even _going _anywhere, and if not, then his speed, his ecto-blasts, his flight—_any _of his powers could help. What did _she _have that he didn't?

She gasped, then; a sudden realization coming to her. "I can track Skulktech!" she announced with a breathlessness.

Phantom paused at the words. "I thought your suit was shorted out," he said skeptically.

She had to be careful now. If she didn't phrase things just right, he'd think it easier to just kill her. "That doesn't mean it can't be fixed," she said slowly. "If Technus helped build the traps on this island, then there's bound to be plenty I could use to repair my tracker."

Phantom's expression turned thoughtful.

This was working. "Without my tracker, Skulktech could hide _anywhere _on this island and you'd never know. It could take you _weeks _to find him."

Phantom hummed. "So all I need to do is find a trap," he mused. He glanced around before picking what seemed to be a random direction.

"Hey, wait!" Valerie protested. "You can't just—!" She sputtered as Phantom kept walking, pulling her right off her feet and dragging her along in the dirt without him slowing at all.

What was he thinking? He couldn't just go marching in _looking_ to spring a trap! Who knew what kind of things that ghost had hidden in these trees?

Although... with the way Valerie was dragged across the ground, she'd probably be the one to trigger a trap. ...Maybe that's what he was wanting.

Valerie squinted her eyes against the dirt and twigs flying in her face, trying to see what was up ahead. She mostly just saw the heels of Phantom's boots crunching through dead leaves. But then she saw a glowing thread. A tripwire. "Phantom!" she called.

Phantom stumbled over the line, but quickly shot a blast of green energy toward some kind of machine that rose from the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut as it blew to pieces with a boom.

"There," Phantom said. She opened her eyes to see him smiling smugly and gesturing toward the scattered pieces, like he'd done her some favor.

She thinned her lips, eyes narrowing in anger, and sat up. She eyed the smoking, blackened pieces, and reached out to pick one up. She dropped it. It was hot. She waved jerkily at the smoking pieces around them. "You think this _helped_, Phantom? All this is _cooked_!"

He raised his upper lip at her, showing off a pointed canine tooth. His red eyes glowed brighter. "You said you needed parts—I got you parts."

"They need to be _working_ parts!"

He growled and slowly approached her, reminding her of a lion or some other predator. "_Maybe_ you should have been more _specific_," he hissed.

She fought to keep her voice steady and show no fear. "Well, I am _now_."

Phantom turned and stepped away from her, her handcuffed arm lifting back into the air. She used her other hand to push herself to her feet before Phantom could start dragging her again.

"Fine," Phantom said as he walked. "When we come across one that is _salvageable_, you will fix your tracker."

Valerie wondered if he was being realistic, or just planning on blowing up several more traps to release his anger. She supposed either way was fine with her. As long as Phantom didn't know how to use her ghost-tracker, she'd at least be kept alive until they found Skulktech, and hopefully by then she'd have a plan to get herself home. If all went right, she would be able to fix the rest of her suit while working on the tracker. Phantom destroyed most of her weapons in their earlier fight, but she still had a few left as long as they were fixable—including her newest one, which must've had some effect on Phantom, since he hadn't finished her off back then.

Phantom pushed through the trees—and made Valerie dodge swinging branches—until one such branch _clicked_, and he instantly stopped. A hidden panel lifted to reveal some kind of missile launcher, embedded right into the tree. The ghost spun around, green energy already in his hand.

Valerie's eyes widened. "Wait, don't attack _that_!" she cried out. But it was too late, the green energy already leaving his fist.

As expected, the missiles detonated in the blast. Valerie tried to cover her face with her hands. A strong yank on her wrist had her flying back, just as the push of the blast reached her.

A sensation of weightlessness engulfed her that could've lasted anywhere from one second to several minutes, and then a yank in the opposite direction stopped her flight, and she was pulled back forward to sprawl face-first in the dirt. She groaned at the pain in her shoulder and newly wrenched elbow. Getting to her knees, she looked up.

Several yards away was a patch of blackened trees—the one in the center actually on fire—and a starburst of black soot radiating out along the ground. Obviously the blast site. She was surprised they'd traveled that far. Looking behind her, she saw Phantom lying against the trunk of a large tree. He appeared unconscious, his eyes closed and mouth slightly open. Some patches of his flaming hair was missing, exposing his sea-green scalp—which was somewhat disturbing. 'Creepy bald guy' wasn't a good look for him.

"He must've taken the brunt of the blast," she mused. It would make sense; his face was a mere foot from the glowing green tips of the missiles when he'd swung at them.

Looking at his still form, she realized she was lucky _she _wasn't dead—though her arm was killing her. She rotated her shoulder, and flexed her elbow and wrist. Nothing was dislocated, just a bit sore from all the tugging she'd had to endure. She still had a good range of motion in it—at least for now. If Phantom kept jerking her around, the injury could end up more serious. Of course, with him, he could probably pull the arm clear off if he got annoyed enough.

She sighed and sat down at the base of the tree to wait for him to wake up.

* * *

It was only a few minutes into her rest when she noticed his flaming hair beginning to grow back. Or perhaps the correct word was 'rekindle'. She assumed it was a sign his energy was returning. However, it took several more minutes for him to take a deep breath and snap open his red eyes.

He glanced around, looking disoriented for several seconds before his gaze settled. Then his eyes widened. "Where's the flour sack?" He flinched then, seeming surprised by something.

"Flour sack?" Valerie dared to ask. What was he talking about? It was a stupid _missile launcher_ that hit them.

"Look, I know it's important to _you_, so that's why— _What _is wrong with my _voice_?!"

Valerie raised an eyebrow. Besides it sounding like he was purposely _trying _to push his voice higher than it should go? She pushed off from the tree and stood up. "What are you on about? In case you hadn't noticed, I've been here waiting for you to wake up, and now we need to get moving. I _still _need parts if you want me to fix my ghost tracker." She almost forgot herself there, but reminding him of the tracker should keep her alive for now.

Phantom was staring at her with a gaping mouth, his eyes roaming across her body. "..._Valerie_?"

She glared at him. Now even _dead_ guys were checking her out. "Don't get any ideas, ghost. This is strictly business. I would never do anything with some evil ghost who thinks it's _fun _to ruin everyone's lives."

Phantom sighed, looking irritated. "Can't you _ever _let this go? For the last time—he _isn't_, and never _was_, my dog. I'm sorry you think your life was ruined, but it _wasn't my fault_. Not every ghost is evil!"

"_What_? What are you..." Flour sacks, dogs... was he talking about _ten years ago_? She studied his red eyes, looking for any sign of the sadistic killer she'd come to know. He _had_ hit his head pretty hard. Her mind replayed all the movies she'd seen over the years, dread pooling within her. "You're not Phantom, are you?" she breathed.

"Of course I'm Phantom," he immediately said—then looked down at his unhandcuffed arm as though to make sure. He flinched again at what he saw. "Why is... What?" he asked, staring at his black glove as though something wasn't right about it. He twisted around to look himself over, then picked up the edge of his cape and fingered it like he didn't know where it had come from. Then he looked up at her with pleading eyes, silently begging her for answers.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. If this was _real_, she wasn't sure if she was better or _worse_ off. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Skulker taking us to his island and handcuffing us together?" he said with a raised eyebrow. He lifted their joined hands to show off the glowing handcuffs.

"Yes, fine, that _did _just happen. What happened _before_ that?"

Phantom's eyes unfocused as he thought back. He said slowly, "Skulker stole the flour sack and framed me for it. I put it on the ground and backed away... Then he knocked us out and brought us here."

She grimaced. "That was when I was in _high school_. The flour sack was for a class project. I was _fourteen_."

He turned his eyes to focus on her again. "_Aren't _you four—" His eyes roamed over her body again, making her feel self-conscious. He slowly mused, "No. You're not." He looked down at his own muscled arms, pulling Valerie's hand toward him as well. "...and I'm not."

She snorted. "I doubt you were really fourteen back then, either. Ghosts don't age the same as humans."

He opened his mouth, looking like he was about to argue with her, but then snapped it shut.

"C'mon, we should probably start moving," Valerie said. "I don't know _what _Skulktech has in this place."

"Skulker," Phantom said.

"Yeah, and Technus," she said absently, scanning their surroundings.

"Wait, they're working together?"

She watched as Phantom got to his feet, looking a little unsteady. He gazed down at himself again with that confused expression.

She answered, "Have been for over a year now."

"...Oh." He looked away, seeming troubled.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she said, "Hey... So, we're on Skulktech's island and handcuffed together, right? What do _you _think we should do?" She studied the ghost's expression.

"Valerie, I know you don't like me—and the feeling's mutual—but I really think we need to work together to get out of here."

A smile slowly crept across her face. "You know what? That might actually be a good idea."

"...Really?" Phantom looked at her oddly. "Is this some kind of trick?"

Yes.

She waved her free hand. "Hey, it's been ten years. I think we've both grown up enough to work together, don't you?"

He looked into the distance, mumbling, "Ten years?"

"Hey." She snapped her fingers and his eyes came back to her. "We need to focus here."

"Right," he said and frowned. "So, which way should we go?"

Valerie started to point out the way back to the nearest coast, when she realized she wasn't sure which direction that was anymore. Phantom had gotten her mixed up while dragging her around looking for traps earlier. She started to glare at him, but he didn't even remember _doing _that now. She sighed. "I guess we should just keep walking this direction," she said, gesturing opposite of the explosion. "I need to salvage some parts from one of these traps, anyhow. Unless..." Her eyes widened. She now had a _completely willing_ Phantom on her hands. "Can you make a portal to the human world?"

He looked at her in confusion. "How?" Then panic. "_I_ don't know how to build something like that!" Then back to confusion. "Do I?" Then he started to pace in a semi-circle around her, that franticness returning. "Even if I _did_, where would we find everything we need? A ghost portal is a _huge _machine, and you need stuff like an ecto-filtrator and... and _other _stuff! Is that why you were talking about salvaging parts—to build a portal?"

Valerie snapped out of her awed trance—she'd never seen Phantom shift between emotions like that before—and held up a hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not _that_ type of portal. One that you can make with your _hand_. With ghost powers." She waved her hand in demonstration, as though opening an invisible portal in midair.

"...That's possible?" Phantom asked skeptically.

She sighed. "_Apparently not_. C'mon." She tugged a few times on the handcuffs until he started to follow her.

* * *

Author's Note:

Alternate chapter title: "Incapable of Feeling" (thought I should title it something to do with the island, instead).


	2. A Sinking Sensation

When I'd uploaded last chapter, I'd completely forgotten that I'd had this idea while reading Lightning Streak's oneshots (I love their stories ...except for Valerie's foul mouth). So this fic was inspired by them. I'd had the thought, 'I wish the author had a fic in which Dan had amnesia', and then decided to just write one. Oh, also, the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" probably plays a little more of a role than I'd first said. It's just not going to be super recognizable.

* * *

Chapter Two: A Sinking Sensation

Valerie scrutinized her surroundings as she walked. So far she hadn't seen any sign of another trap: no tripwires; no seam lines on the trees.

Although, she supposed it kind of made sense. If it were so easy to find an un-sprung trap, it wouldn't be much of a trap.

Phantom was a step behind her on her handcuffed side, letting her choose the pace. No impatient complaining or charging ahead. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, wondering what was going on with him. His complete one eighty made her feel a bit on edge.

She didn't think he was faking the memory loss, but the Phantom of ten years ago was a lot harder to read than the _straightforward _monster she'd grown used to.

And she didn't remember the past Phantom ever being so compliant or pensive. The ghost-boy would've been making sarcastic quips right about n—

Valerie's foot sank through the ground and her heart leapt into her throat.

Leaves caved in under her feet, carving out an eight-foot circle as she started to fall. A pit trap? Behind her, Phantom yelled her name.

Her handcuffed arm was yanked up behind her and she let out a startled cry of pain. At the same time, large hands dug into her back, a heavy weight pressing up against her and thrusting her through the air and across the hole.

Her upper body hit the grassy ground hard, her gut digging deep into the rim of the pit and driving her breath from her while her chin slammed into the ground and snapped her teeth together. Grass and leaves shoved into her face. Her legs dangled freely over the edge, her toes feeling nothing at all beneath her.

She couldn't breathe. Was that Phantom on top of her? She thought it was Phantom. What did he think he was _doing_? She struggled to inhale but failed, her squished lungs demanding air. Then her arm was wrenched higher up her back by the wrist, her shoulder burning but her unable to make a sound, before Phantom apparently realized the limb wasn't supposed to move that way and twisted it around the other direction.

He squirmed and she stole a few shallow breaths.

"_Off_," she managed to say.

"Sorry!" He said. What felt like a knee pressed her harder into the rim and she let out a whimper. Her metal bandolier belt also dug into one side. "_Sorry_!" he repeated.

She could see his black-and-white outfit as he crawled off of her. With his weight gone, she sucked in much needed deep breaths, glaring darkly at him.

However, without his weight holding her down, she felt herself starting to slide backward into the pit. She scratched at the ground, looking for purchase. Her boots scrabbled at the slippery wall of the pit.

Phantom grabbed her shoulders—and did so harder than was necessary—stopping her descent. She continued to glare while he pulled her up and sat her down in the safety of the grass.

Wide red eyes roved over her. "Valerie, are you okay?"

"That _hurt_!" she yelled in his face. She ignored his flinch at the noise. "Are you _trying _to kill me?!"

"No! You were about to fall into a pit," he said and gestured behind her, "so I tried to push you to safety. It just didn't—" he said, cutting off with a strained expression, "I didn't know it would end up that way. I just thought I could push you over it or something. But everything was _different_, and it just— Valerie, _please_. I seriously was trying to help."

She pursed her lips. Her body practically _vibrated_ with anger. Whether or not he'd been trying to help, he _caused_ most of the danger. Especially since he could've just yanked her back by the handcuffs, rather than _jumping on top of her_. Her fists clenched around the grass at her sides, pulling at it mercilessly, imagining it was Phantom.

"I'm sorry?" He asked weakly.

"You weigh like three hundred pounds!" she exploded. "Do not ever, _ever_ do that _again_!" She let out a frustrated roar and threw the bits of grass in her hands at his face. Most of it just fluttered down between them like confetti, leaving her unsatisfied.

* * *

The pit was a large metal cylinder, and at the very bottom was arcing green electricity.

The curved wall was smooth to her questing fingers, even though Valerie could see seams cutting through the metal.

She eyed the arcing current with a grimace. The bottom was probably the only area that _might _be useful to her, and it looked pretty deadly.

If only Phantom hadn't destroyed that first trap—the parts from that one would've been perfect.

She sighed and leaned back from the pit, pressing her palms into the grass behind her. She winced as her muscles burned in protest. Along with her arm, her chest and stomach muscles were going to be sore for a while. Hopefully there wasn't anything more serious on the inside.

Phantom sat by the pit beside her—the handcuffs requiring as much. He winced at her wince.

She eyed him with a tilt of her head, not understanding him. "Why are you trying so hard to look like you care? You've told me over and over that you can't."

He gave her a confused look. "Can't what?"

"Care."

The confused expression pulled stronger at his features. "Why would I say that?" he asked. After a short silence he said, "Maybe you misunderstood? _Of course _I'd care if you got hurt. Just because we don't like each other doesn't mean I want anything to happen to you. Maybe I'd just meant I didn't have feelings for you? As... er... more than friends?"

She snorted. "'More than friends'," she repeated. "As if we would even _get _to 'friends'. But no, you've been pretty clear that ghosts don't have 'human emotions'." A frown formed on her face as she thought of just _how _clearly he'd communicated that. Backing up his often-repeated words was his crazed laughter while destroying everything in sight.

"What?" Phantom asked, mouth dropping open as he stared at her.

"You can't fool me, ghost. I know all about your false guise."

"My _what_?"

She rolled her eyes at his shocked expression. "Your guise: back when you pretended to help Amity Park, before you showed your true colors—both figuratively _and _literally."—Why was he looking at his black glove? She'd meant the drastic change in skin and eye color—"Besides, even back then, there were times the _real _you showed through—I'd kept records, you know. Like the time you were first declared public enemy number one after attacking the mayor, or the time you'd robbed the museum."

"Hey, I never robbed a museum!" he said immediately. After a pause, he added, "Or the other thing, either. _Walker_ framed me for that."

"_Right_," Valerie drawled. "The point is: I _know_ what you're really like, so knock off this innocent act."

He sighed, suddenly looking tired as he gazed up at the green sky. "It's not an act." His eyes returned to her. "I've been protecting Amity Park the best I know how—just like you. There's a lot of people living there who I care about, whether you believe it or not."

"Well you have a strange way of _showing_ it." She straightened, sitting back up, and crossed her arms. Surprisingly, Phantom allowed his arm to be pulled along with hers. He kept his handcuffed arm stretched out in the air, not even letting it weigh hers down, like it _would_ if he wasn't actively holding it up.

He gazed down into the pit, eyebrows furrowing. "Do you want me to try getting some parts out of this thing?"

She snorted. "That electricity's probably harmful to _you_, too. And it's not going to be any good if you blast this one like you did the others."

He raised his eyes to look at her. "Others?" he asked.

She flatly stated, "The amnesia's because you thought it was a good idea to blow up a fully stocked missile launcher—when it was a foot away."

There was those wide eyes and slacked jaw again. His voice strained as he said, "I won't... do that again."

She gestured toward the pit, one corner of her mouth lifting as she said, "Well, _don't _knock yourself out."

Phantom grinned at the wordplay before turning his attention to the pit.

As he looked it over, she again pondered how different he was from before. And despite _knowing_ he was just trying to fool her into trusting him, every time he would talk she would forget how bloodthirsty he really was.

Sitting there, hunched over the pit with his cape draped over his broad shoulders and pooling on the ground around him, a look of concentration on his face, he just looked like an overgrown kid.

Almost how the ghost hunter Jack Fenton had before Phantom had killed him.

Phantom lifted off the ground and disappeared over the rim of the pit, making Valerie nervous. However, he simply hovered near the top, slowly looking over the wall.

Well, as long as he wasn't going to drag them both to their doom, getting a better look wasn't a bad idea. It seemed Phantom hadn't been kidding when he'd said Skulktech couldn't suppress his powers.

She accommodated Phantom during his examination, following him around the edge of the pit, and bending over every so often to give him more slack in the handcuffs. Of course, if he weren't being so unusually careful, he could yank her into the pit without even meaning to.

He floated back up to eye level. "One of the panels near the bottom has a set of hinges."

"Like a maintenance hatch or fuse box?" Valerie asked.

He shrugged. "Something like that, I guess? It's too low for me to reach, though." He studied her with narrowed eyes, tilting his head in thought.

She didn't like the look in his eye. She recalled the way they'd 'worked together' to leave the Ghost Zone ten years ago. "Don't you dare overshadow me," she ordered. She hoped he didn't realize how defenseless she really was at the moment.

He pouted. "It'd be so much easier, though."

"No way," she reiterated.

That was another way Phantom had shown his true self ten years ago. He had always been perfectly willing to overshadow people if it meant getting what he wanted. Being overshadowed had been an uncomfortable experience ten years ago, where she had _woken up _back home with barely a clue of how she'd gotten there. A ghost could make a person do _anything_, and said person may never know what they'd done while under their influence. Valerie's current suit was supposed to have safeguards against overshadowing, but there was no guarantee it would work while shorted out.

"Fine, then what do _you_ suggest?" he challenged.

Valerie frowned. If her board worked, it'd be a tight fit inside the pit. The idea of repelling down with a rope had her scanning her surroundings, but of course there weren't any ropes lying around in the grass—and it wasn't the type of woods that had vines dangling from the trees. She didn't trust Phantom to _carry _her into the pit. Maybe if she held onto his back—although he could still go intangible and drop her _that _way. But he could also give a little tug on the handcuffs right now and make her fall in, too. And without going down with him, the only possibility she could think of was Phantom dangling her down from the edge of the pit, which would be even worse than hanging onto him. "Turn around and let me get on your back."

He gave her an incredulous look. "You want me to give you a _horsey back ride_?"

She glared at him. "Just turn around."

He did so, and looked over his shoulder with an unsettled expression as she carefully gripped his shoulders and twisted her hands into the fabric of his cape.

Phantom held one of her legs, but her other leg was left free—Phantom's handcuffed hand staying near his shoulder, where her own hand was.

He slowly floated down, and Valerie tried her best to hang on. Wrapping her arms around his neck would give her a better grip, but she wanted to avoid touching his ponytail and the heat it was giving off. She didn't know if the ghostly flames could burn her, but she didn't want to find out. However, if the unbalanced sensation she was experiencing—she almost felt like she was about to fall over backward—got any worse, she would have to chance it.

She craned her neck to look over Phantom's shoulder, and could barely see through the bright glow of his hair. She squinted to help make out details, and thought she could see the square-shaped panel he had mentioned, still a little below them. However, a glance over her own shoulder revealed the bright green electricity arcing beneath them, the two of them now close enough to hear its furious buzzing and spitting.

The curving green streaks were larger than they had looked from above. Her and Phantom were only a matter of inches from them now.

Valerie's free leg slipped, and she quickly brought it back up, just as one of the arcs of energy leapt for them with a loud pop, as though sensing where her foot had been. It barely missed the bottom of Phantom's cape. She dug her knee into Phantom's side.

He tightened his grip on her other leg in return, apparently having noticed the near miss.

One wrong move, and they'd be in a world of pain.

Phantom's deep voice vibrated through her. "Valerie, I need to let go of your leg to open the door. Can you hang on?"

She glanced back up, seeing that Phantom was now in front of the panel. "Y-yeah. Go ahead." Her voice barely carried over the sound of the electricity.

Phantom let go, and she squeezed her legs tighter around his waist, hoping she wouldn't fall. She could feel Phantom's muscles tense up beneath her, and imagined him grimacing, though he didn't complain.

Phantom opened the door, causing a hollow metal clang to reverberate, and revealed a large green circuit board. On the left side was one of those old white light switches that could've been found in every house a few years back. Possibly used here as an off switch for the arcing current.

Valerie could feel herself starting to slide down. "Phantom, flick the switch," she ordered. She tried to get a better grip on his cape to help pull herself back up.

Phantom's handcuffed hand pressed her own handcuffed hand tight against his shoulder. There was a change in the lighting, and Phantom grabbed for her leg with his free hand, but missed as her legs slid down completely.

The toes of her boots brushed the floor—and nothing happened.

The green electricity was gone, the only light now coming from Phantom, and whatever little bit reached them from the sky above.

Phantom descended the last few inches as well, his boots hitting the floor. The quiet sound bounced off the metal walls, emphasizing the newly silent pit. He released her hand and turned to look at her.

"Okay, I guess it's safe now," she said, voice echoing. She tried to sound strong. "Let's see what I can do with this." She walked around him to look at the inside of the panel. Her fingers jittered from unused adrenaline.

Under the off switch was a fuse tube that matched the type her belt used.

She'd assumed Technus had been picking up anything he could find close to Amity Park, including bits and pieces previously torn from her suit, and the matching fuse only strengthened that belief.

Popping open a panel on her belt, she removed her own fuse, and held it up to the light from Phantom's hair. As she'd thought, it was blown. She switched it with the working one from the pit.

If she was lucky, that'd be all that was wrong with her suit, since the fuse tube's job was to absorb excess electricity and keep it away from everything else. Otherwise—if there was more electricity than the tube could take in—she'd need to replace some other parts. Worst-case scenario would be a whole slew of melted components, which would be much harder to replace, especially if everything was melted together.

* * *

Danny kept his arm loose in the air—though it was already getting tired—so Valerie could use both her hands freely.

The earlier pit-save-disaster was a wakeup call for him. He should've been able to get Valerie safely across the pit, but he'd misjudged and just made everything worse. He was both stronger _and _heavier than before, and, worst of all, he didn't seem to have the instinct to _hold back_.

Valerie was smaller than him now, and he could hurt her even _without _drawing on his ghost powers.

He _had_ hurt her.

He'd seen the faint reddish stains on the black fabric covering her handcuffed wrist. And also the way she'd winced when shifting positions earlier. _Danny_ had done that.

He'd always thought having big muscles and being super strong would be awesome. Even after getting ghost powers, he'd still pushed himself to fly faster, to practice more, to get stronger. He'd wanted to be as powerful as possible, to learn—and master—as many powers as he could. But now, for the first time, he realized there was also a downside to being powerful. He was so powerful now... that he had trouble controlling himself.

And that was only _one_ of his problems. Skulker had kidnapped him and Valerie, and then he woke up ten years older. The past decade was a complete blank to him. Valerie had already been on this island with him once before—or at least, he thought it was only once before—and she was the only one who knew anything.

With her standing before him in that skin-tight suit that showed off more curves than he remembered her having, he was reminded that she was _twenty-four,_ now. She was an adult.

Valerie was no longer the annoying classmate who was only just beginning to be introduced to ghost hunting, but was now the one with ten times more experience than Danny. She knew this island. She knew Skulker. And she probably knew more about _Danny _than Danny himself did.

Well, besides still thinking of him as some kind'a menace to society.

Rather than an A-lister who fell on hard times, Valerie looked like a _soldier_. The way she held herself, and with that crew cut hairstyle, she looked battle-hardened and confident. It made him wonder what kind of job she had nowadays—whether she really was in the military or something.

She still hadn't explained exactly why she needed parts from the pit, but it must've had something to do with her suit—or the fancy metal belt she now wore at her waist and which crossed over both her shoulders.

Valerie held up a little glass tube and squinted at it.

Now that there wasn't any electricity jumping around, her main light source seemed to be coming from him—or, more specifically, from his head. Was his hair _glowing_? It never did _that_ before.

He lifted his free hand to his head, eyes widening in surprise as he didn't feel what he'd expected. Rather than running his fingers through strands of hair... it was like passing through thick energy?

It would be easier to tell if he could take off his glove...

"Phantom, I'm going to have to test this."

Danny dropped his hand and looked at Valerie.

Her eyes studied him. "If it doesn't work, it might give you a shock."

"Uh, okay," he said. Then he frowned at her, wondering how _much_ of a shock she was talking about. "...I guess."

She tensed, herself, as she pushed a button. However, the only thing that happened was a little screen extended from her belt.

She pressed a few more buttons, and Danny leaned over to see what she was doing, but only saw some gibberish on the screen and an increasing percent. Maybe her suit was like a computer that had turned off wrong and had to go through some ten minute check before coming on?

He went back to messing with his hair.

The metal wall of the pit wasn't at all reflective, so a vague white shine was all he could make out of what his hair looked like.

Was it flaming, like Skulker's or Ember's? That would be pretty cool. Well, technically it was _warm_.

However, it was also one more thing that had changed.

He didn't really know himself anymore. Didn't know _anything_.

Had he gained any new ghost powers? Had he ever figured out duplication, or those other things Vlad could do?

When Valerie had mentioned making a portal, had that meant _Danny _had learned to do that at some point? If so, the adult him wouldn't even need a thermos anymore.

Wait, was he still catching the same ghosts over and over after ten whole years? Hadn't they ever fixed the Ghost Portal to keep them from coming through?

He was twenty-four now, right? Had he gone to college? Had he been able to get into the NASA program?

Dread filled him at his next thought.

He and Valerie didn't actually have a baby together, like that stupid school project, did they?

He shook the thought away.

No, Valerie had made it pretty clear they were still enemies. ...Or at least, _Danny Phantom _and the _Red Huntress_ were enemies.

Maybe he should ask her about Danny Fenton? ...Would that be too suspicious? Maybe he could ask about the Fentons in general, since a ghost would have a reason to ask about a family associated with ghost hunting.

But he couldn't picture the two of them ever dating, anyhow. They hated each other's guts last he knew, in _both_ identities.

What if she already _knew_ he was Danny Fenton?

After ten years, did anyone besides Sam and Tucker know his secret?

Was any of this even really happening? What if this was all just some weird, realistic dream?

How strange was it that their Health Sciences class had started a project about their potential futures, and now he really _was_ in the future?

"Hey Phantom, bend down for a second."

He blinked and looked at Valerie. The covering for her belt was off, and she was holding a screwdriver and a coil of wire.

"I don't have a soldering iron, and I need to solder a few pieces in place. That hair of yours is hot, right?"

He didn't know what to say, so he just knelt so she could reach his hair, like she'd requested. He stared in near-disbelief as she used him as some kind of lighter.

He gave her an annoyed look. Was that all that a twenty-four-year-old Danny Phantom was good for?

* * *

Valerie fired at one of the surrounding trees, the pink ray from her ecto-gun punching straight through the trunk.

She nodded to herself and retracted the weapon back into her suit. That was the last one to check. She only had three fully operational weapons. The rest were either completely missing, lacking ammo, or too damaged to repair.

The suit itself worked, however—including her ghost tracker, which now showed Phantom right beside her. There was some interference, however, either caused by being within the Ghost Zone, originating from the Island itself, or coming from minor ectoplasmic entities _on _the island. Perhaps from some of the traps—the glowing green she'd been seeing was obviously ectoplasmic in nature. However, Skulktech's ecto-signature wasn't hard to identify, and was quite some ways away from their current location.

Based solely on her readings, the island was probably about two miles wide, and they were half a mile from one edge. Skulktech was on the other side.

She glanced over at Phantom, who was playing with a small flame of ecto-energy in his hand, a look of extreme concentration on his face.

"Phantom."

He startled, and the small flame suddenly shot up in size, before being snuffed out.

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Nothing!" he said. "It's nothing. Just, ah, bored."

She stared at him for a moment. Sometimes the ghost was just bizarre. "My tracker's showing Skulktech over a mile away right now. We can probably be off the island in a few minutes if we fly." She pointed into the distance. "The nearest coast is that way."

Phantom nodded, but his expression looked uncertain. He opened and closed his mouth, and gave her a skeptical look, finally saying slowly, "How are you planning on us flying with the handcuffs?"

She paused for a moment, realizing his mind must've gone back to either overshadowing her or carrying her on his back.

She rolled her eyes and activated her board, which formed under her feet. "Get on."

His eyes widened in realization, then he got on the large board behind her.

She shot diagonally into the sky, blasting a few treetops out of her way. She didn't want to waste any time in case Skulktech knew they were making their move. There could be cameras or something.

Valerie pushed her board to the max, the landscape beneath them becoming nothing but a streak of green vegetation. She could see the gray of the rocky coast approaching in the distance. They were almost there.

Just a little more...

She smirked as she reached the edge. it looked like Skulktech forgot about her board.

Wait—what were those green lines racing across the sky?

Hundreds of diagonal lines stretched out from above and below, crossing each other and forming a diamond pattern, like a chain link fence. Valerie pulled back, but couldn't stop in time, instead hitting the netting and bouncing off.

"What is this?" she said aloud. Turning the board around, she saw the island laid out before her, and a net-like dome stretching across the sky.

"A ghost shield?" Phantom guessed.

"Maybe a modified one," Valerie allowed. "If it was only a ghost shield, my board and I would've gone through it."

Towers rose up from the ground—one of them only about a hundred feet away—large megaphones mounted at the top of each one.

There was a squeal as the sound switched on, causing Valerie to cover her ears.

"I see the two of you are ready to start our hunt," Skulker's voice said over the speakers. "Now that you've had a recovery period... let the game begin."

He called the past several hours a _recovery period_?

"Valerie—_go_!" Phantom shouted.

She snapped her head around in surprise, and saw hundreds of little missiles shooting their way. She pushed her board into motion again, this time heading back toward the island.

She swerved a few times, Phantom making strangled noises behind her at the unexpected moves, but the missiles still followed them.

* * *

Author's Note:

One part of last chapter reminded me of Beauty & the Beast. Part of this chapter reminded me of my first DP idea (I had that idea last year but it's not yet published). Phantom and Valerie are also two of the main characters of it.

...This fic was supposed to be kind'a an action/suspense kind'a thing (with a side of amnesia), but this chapter ended up mostly being about Phantom and Valerie sitting around talking. Maybe the fic'll go the way I'd first imagined after this chapter. Either that, or I'm just not good with action. (By the way, the Writer's Anonymous forum helped me with the first scene of this chapter—I got so annoyed with how unclear everyone there found it originally and I kept tweaking it over and over to make the action clearer. I didn't ask how the latest version sounded, though, because I didn't know if I could take needing to edit it any more.)

Hope you had a happy Friday the 13th. Though I've realized that, no, this fic really doesn't have anything to do with horror (even though horror movies are actiony, so I think the genres are related?), I still thought I'd try finishing up the chapter to post on the 13th.

Over Thanksgiving, my step-great-niece requested we tie our hands together and pretend to be handcuffed together. Though I acted reluctant and put-out about it, I was secretly happy to be able to do a little research for this fic. A few things I noticed were that: it's actually kind'a easy to still do things with your hands (as long as the other person is accommodating, at least), it's quite tiring to leave your hand loose for the other person (apparently it's less tiring when you actually _use_ your hand? Or if you can lean your hand against something. Just hovering in midair isn't easy for more than a few seconds), and your wrist is rubbed/pulled more than you might think (when I wrote the first chapter, I hadn't really thought of Valerie's wrist, assuming her shoulder would get most of the abuse). Oh, also, when your hand's untied, it feels very light and weird for a minute or so, until getting used to having your hand to yourself again.


End file.
